PHUKET - A nine-storey hotel under construction in Kathu district collapsed during a landslide with heavy rain throughout the island province on Friday. No casualties were reported.
Authorities declared the construction site of the collapsed hotel at Ban Hua Khuan a danger area.
Four other landslides hit a villa at Kalama beach, an area in front of Rimpa on Patong-Kalim beach, an area in front of Chao Por Sua shrine at Patong, and a condominium in Ratsada area of Muang district.
Hours of torrential rain caused flooding in Muang, Thalang and Kathu districts, with the water 20-30cm deep.
Sayant Chanachaiwong, chief of Kathu district, ordered the evacuation of 12 householdsi near landslide-hit areas in the district.
Praphan Khanprasaeng, chief of the provincial disaster prevention and mitigation office, said municipal workers had already cleared up the areas hit by landslides. Water pumps were installed to drain water from flooded areas.
Cars edge their way along a flooded road in Phuket after torrential rain hit the island province, causing several landslides, on Friday. (Photo by Achadtaya Chuenniran)